The most common failure mode for caps is bulging as per this photo:http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...94#post8750894'
If any of them bulge even slightly, they should be replaced. Also they need to be Low ESR, high temp (105C) rated types. If you can test the voltages and ripple (under normal loading) that is the best way to tell if you have PSU problems.

There are HDD problems that are not detected by KS54. You need to connect the HDD to a PC and run the mfr's extended test.

You aren't using an expander drive are you? If so try reseating the SATA cable connections.

It does seem strange your probs started when you went to delete all.

Does it have PLS? If so it's worth repairing and is worth something to some buyers even if broken.

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the only one with a bulge at all was replaced.
no expander drive. just the default 250gb drive it came with.
yea, no problems since I got it until I went to delete all and reset for a sale.
it does have a lifetime subscription.

See unitron's post #5 in this thread. Or, sell it as is. With PLS you can still get a good price from someone who is willing and able to fix it. They might even pm you here about it.

Or assume the software on your disk is corrupted. Get a 648 image with the 11.0k or 11.0m software and put it on with WinMFS.

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New to the forum, so looking for some guidance. My Series 3 reboots continuously when I insert the cable card. At first, it was only happening when I inserted in Slot 2. Now it even happens when I try to insert the first card. Is it worth trying to replace the Cable Card slots? When I read this thread about replacing other parts, I think that maybe I would be paying for new cable card readers only to find that the problem is elsewhere. At some point, it's probably easier just to pay for an exchange and move the Lifetime Service to the new box rather than deal with a lot of repairs - repairs that I can't do myself so I have to send to someone like Weaknees. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

New to the forum, so looking for some guidance. My Series 3 reboots continuously when I insert the cable card. At first, it was only happening when I inserted in Slot 2. Now it even happens when I try to insert the first card. Is it worth trying to replace the Cable Card slots? When I read this thread about replacing other parts, I think that maybe I would be paying for new cable card readers only to find that the problem is elsewhere. At some point, it's probably easier just to pay for an exchange and move the Lifetime Service to the new box rather than deal with a lot of repairs - repairs that I can't do myself so I have to send to someone like Weaknees. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Most likely, the power supply is failing. This is a known issue with Series 3 and TivoHD models.
You can verify by opening the Tivo (unplug the Tivo first, of course) and looking at the capacitors on the power supply. They should be completely flat on top.
Here is an example of a power supply with a bad capacitor:

You can get a new (refurbished) power supply from Weaknees and swap it out yourself without having to send the whole unit to them.

So my tivo failed due to a software problem after doing a full system delete after 7 years!
Now to do guided setup and make sure the system is current software version.
then try another full wipe & test to make sure it returns to the Welcome! screen safely.

"A hardware problem has been detected which needs your attention. Until this problem is fixed, you will not be able to record programs or watch recordings. You will need to restart the TiVo Digital Media Recorder now. If you see this message again even after the DVR restarts, please contact TiVo at 1-877-367-8486 and report error #51."

The part about Dropbox is that if you don't already have a free account with them, then if you let me send you an invitation to sign up for one (as opposed to just going to their site and signing up by yourself) so that I get credit for it, we both get extra free space there.

At some point, it's probably easier just to pay for an exchange and move the Lifetime Service to the new box rather than deal with a lot of repairs - repairs that I can't do myself so I have to send to someone like Weaknees. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

last I heard, lifetime subscriptions can NOT be moved from one TiVO to another box. Or has this sort of changed recently?

last I heard, lifetime subscriptions can NOT be moved from one TiVO to another box. Or has this sort of changed recently?

If you bought lifetime before January 20, 2000, you were grandfathered for a one time switch to another TiVo at anytime thereafter because it wasn't originally crystal clear that they meant "lifetime of the box, not the owner".

After that, there have been some case by case times where it was done, often for an additional fee, and the actual qualifying criteria are not known for certain by us mere mortals.

(and TiVo probably makes it up as they go along anyway, and there may even be some Customer Service Roulette involved as well, for all I know).